


I Smiled

by mtac_archivist



Category: NCIS
Genre: Challenge Response, Drama, Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Not Episode Related, Not a Crossover
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-03-12
Updated: 2008-03-12
Packaged: 2019-03-02 05:54:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,032
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13311882
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mtac_archivist/pseuds/mtac_archivist
Summary: Tony's always played up the 'class clown' act, but what lies beneath? Response to a challenge, beter summary given inside.





	I Smiled

**Author's Note:**

> Note from Jessi, the archivist: this story was originally archived at [ MTAC](https://fanlore.org/wiki/MTAC), an archive of NCIS fanfiction which closed in 2017. To preserve the archive, I began manually importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project after August 2017. I tried to reach out to all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator (and this work is still attached to the archivist account), please contact me using the e-mail address on [ the MTAC collection profile](http://www.archiveofourown.org/collections/mtac/profile)

  
Author's notes: Response to a challenge, details inside. Complete, but possibility of developing further on request. :D  


* * *

Author: SemperFi

Title: I Smiled

Rating: Young teen, no real warning worthy things, so pretty much suitable for any/all ages I guess.

Summary: See challenge listed below.

Notes: This is one of the first challenges/prompts I\'ve done that\'s single fandom (I swear, almost every request I\'ve ever had has been a crossover).

 

This story is from the challenge below:

NCIS: Educated Tony by peja  
Sabrina wrote:  
I have seen a lot of stories in which it is mentioned one of the reasons Tony was hired is because he is good with people. I\'ve also seen a lot of stories in which Kate kind of looks down on Tony because he was \"just a cop\" and because of the degree he holds. I would love to see a story in which Tony continued his education and has a doctorate in criminal psychology. The only ones who know are Abby, cause in my world she and Tony are bestest friends, and Gibbs, who likes to call Tony Dr. Dinozzo when they are alone (slash) or because he is proud of the person he  thinks of as a son (gen). Ducky also knows because he, well, he\'s Ducky and Ducky knows everything. Kate and McGee end up finding out and are totally dumbfounded, stupefied, stunned, shocked, fill in the adjective. To make matters worse, from Kate\'s point of view anyway, she also finds out that Tony wrote books/papers which were required reading for her in becoming a profiler (under a pseudonym and with no author\'s picture cause that would pretty much deep-six his undercover career). Yeah. That\'s what I would like to see.

 

From website: http://www.squidge.org/~peja/cgi-bin/challenges.php?let=N

I hope you enjoy! Feedback is loved!!

 

\'I Smiled\'

 

.............

 

Tony DiNozzo had perfected his persona of the \'class clown\'. He\'d cultivated and nursed it for years, slowly but surely building a solid persona, one that almost no one ever looked past. No one took notice of the sharp intelligence hidden in the glittering eyes and mocking smile, or the competence behind the mask of klutziness and movie references.

Almost no one.

XXXX

Abby Sciuto was a genius, and not because of her obvious brains in the science department. She immediately saw through the mask, to the person beneath, and for that, he loved her as only a best friend could.

XXXX

Gibbs knew- Well, he wasn\'t sure how Gibbs knew, maybe from personnel records and Gibbs\' own background check. But he knew. He never said so, letting Tony keep his perfect little mask in place for all to see (or not, as was the case, really), and for that, Tony admired and loved him like a father. And he was, really, in every way but blood.

XXXX

Ducky was a different matter all together. Tony REALLY didn\'t know how he knew, but he did. He always seemed to know, well, everything. As much as people liked to ignore or push past the older man\'s stories, when Tony had the time, he loved to listen. It was one of the few things that could make him sit still for an immeasurable amount of time. Ducky\'s stories. His unique wisdom was hidden deep among allusions to past lives and adventures in Turkey, England, Edinburgh, the Maldives, almost every place imaginable, and Tony loved him for it. The older man gave him encouragement to pursue his endeavours, widen his horizon, and he knew he could never repay him enough for that.

XXXX

When he finished college the first time around and went into the police forces, Tony already had in place his clown mask, firmly lodged. He knew that trying to prove himself to superiors through obvious displays of intelligence wouldn\'t make him a good cop, and so, it wasn\'t not important to his goal.

He knew he wouldn\'t be able to actually GO to college, because his job was completely unpredictable, but it didn\'t mean he couldn\'t go, either.

So he did.

Go.

He took correspondence courses, and never actually attended a single class. Three weeks after his first in-depth paper had been handed in, \'his\' professor sent him a letter requesting permission to publish it, so well had it been recieved. Accepting the offer on the proviso he used a pseudonym, he began his somewhat illustrious writing career. He managed to fit in articles and more lengthy papers, recieving publishing offers through his professor over the next few years.

He didn\'t stop doing the course just because he switched jobs. No, he kept going. Nights and days off were divided between local beauties and assessing the minds of some of the worst criminals in America\'s history.

Finally, after years of hard work and more jobs than he could remember, three weeks after his last paper was handed in, he recieved his official qualification. His Doctorate in Criminal Psychology. With over a dozen lengthy papers and numerous articles to \'his\' name (The newly minted \'Doctor\' Matthew Rogers was a very smart man, after all, with \'uncanny insight into the mind of criminals and disturbed individuals\' according to the realm of professional profilers everywhere, for whom his writing had become, almost always, compulsory (or, in some cases \'highly suggested\' reading)), he was finally finished.

He\'d done it.

Now all he had to do was keep it a secret.

No use ruining his perfectly good cover, after all.

XXXX

There was a slight crumpling sound.

Two seconds later, both Kate and McGee\'s heads were the unfortunate victims of Tony\'s boredom. Tony told himself it kept them on guard.

That and it really was fun to see Kate\'s little annoyed \'I am of superior genetics\' glare aimed straight for him.

\"You know, Katie, if we could bottle that somehow, we\'d never have to use guns\" Tony quipped as he aimed yet another paper ball at his partner\'s head.

\"It\'s KATE or Agent Todd, DiNozzo, and if you EVER grow a brain, the world will have it\'s first true miracle since Jesus rose from the dead,\" was Kate\'s snippy reply. Not for the first time, she asked, \"How the hell did you get this job?\"

Tony put on his \'award winning\' smirk, DiNozzo special number 59 and replied smoothly, \"I smiled.\"

He never let it show, but Kate constantly looking down on him for his \'cop\' background was steadily getting to him. It was just like how his father looked down on him for ditching \'the family business\' and becoming a cop. It hurt. Sure he was the one with the class clown act going on, and fair enough she didn\'t know he\'d done more than that one degree and technically outranked her in both field work experience and qualifications, but would it hurt to ever get even some credit for the work he did, other than the usual \'dumb luck\' comment that was thrown at him for his success on a case.

Whenever the chance to \'profile\' came up, Kate seemed to lord her \'expertise\' over him, knowingly or not. \'If she was such a good profiler, she\'d have figured me out by now\', Tony thought as he again recieved the line about working with NCIS.

McGee, for all the fact that half the time he acted more skittish than a jackrabbit around him, also had his own little brand of dissaproval just for Tony and his \'stupidity\'.

People were forever underestimating him, and while that was of great use in interrogation, investigations and undercover work, he thought at least his teammates would recognize he wasn\'t really that stupid, that he was just as good as them.

But they didn\'t.

XXXX

Tonight, Tony was getting his own back. The man had NO respect for personal boundaries, never felt any qualm over searching her or McGee or anyone\'s desks and belongings without permission, so tonight she\'d get even.

On duty to bring dinner in for the team, DiNozzo would be gone for a good half hour or more by the time he picked up the orders and got back to HQ. Plenty of time to get her revenge. Even better, Gibbs had gone with him for some reason, meaning they wouldn\'t get caught by the boss either. It was the perfect time to do it.

Even McGee was helping. Apparently he\'d been called \'probie\' and \'mcgeek\' one too many times.

They began on top of his desk, but nothing useful or personal was there, aside from some scrawled notes that were basically illegible and his PDA. Top drawer revealed his spare badge and ID, an extra clip for his gun (against protocol) and some bills. The second, larger, drawer however held....

A shoebox?

Kate and Tim shared identical, perplexed looks as they took the box out of the drawer and rested it onto the empty space of the desk. Lifting the lid almost apprehensively, Kate absently wondered if this was going to far, but shook her head and held her resolve.

What was inside the box shocked both agents to the core.

Many minutes of stunned silence passed, no noise to be heard except for the slight pant of breath coming from each agent.

\"A doctorate?\" McGee stated incredulously, looking at the top most piece of paper.

\"On Criminal Psychology\" Kate whispered. Somehow, talking at a normal level just didn\'t feel right.

Almost reverently, Kate pulled out the sheet to access the now treasure trove of gold beneath. Two more degrees were found, one dated not three weeks ago, on, of all things, Philosophy. Numerous records of published articles were beneath that, dates and title listed, the names of each publication they were in hand written.

\"I thought there\'d be dirty photos, maybe a little black book, not...\" Kate trailed off, still in awe of what they\'d found.

McGee\'s mouth worked open and closed, flabbergasted at the findings. Neither of them noticed the two men who came out of the stairwell instead of the elevator, until one spoke.

\"Close your mouth McGee, I can see your tonsils\" Tony said casually, he and Gibbs watching as they jumped guiltily from their perches on Tony\'s desk. From his vantage point, Gibbs could see the lines around his senior agent\'s mouth tense, jaw clenching. Nothing else betrayed the younger man\'s emotions, though, the easy smile fitted onto his face one that disarmed most people at first glance.

\"Tony! I - you- I\" Kate stuttered, her shock of their findings mignling with her embarassment and shame at being caught in such a position not forgiving enought o allow her coherent speech.

Tony dropped the several bags of takeout onto another desk before turning back the way he came, glancing very briefly at his boss. \"I forgot something. I\'ll be back.. later, Boss\" he half stated-half mumbled as he made headway for the elevator, not bothering to look back.

Not seeing the look of almost despair on Kate and Mcgee\'s faces.

Gibbs wasn\'t so sparing. \"Have fun, Agents Todd, McGee?\" he asked in his usual \'the second \'b\' is for bastard and I\'m about to show you why\' tone.

\"Boss, we never- I mean, I-\" Kate said miserably, her face dropping. Tony may have acted casual, but for once she\'d seen the flash of hurt (?) in his eyes before he\'d turned away. She\'d seen through the mask. She just wished the revelation didn\'t have such a high cost.

 

\"Pack it up, Kate, McGee\" Gibbs instructed, turning to the takeout. He knew where Tony had gone, where he always went when he needed what Abby had dubbed \'friend time\'. 

Abby and Duck were more than capable of dealing with Tony for now. It was his job to deal with Todd and McGee.

\"Yes sir\" came the identical, miserable replies.

 

.............

 

That\'s all...... for now. Interested in more? Let me know!


End file.
